„‚ CONDITIONS THAT HINDER EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

implementation are undertaken after the task subgroups report their results to the total
group.
Assessing the Organization’s Needs for Mentoring
The initial steps of establishing a mentoring program are concerned with assessing the
need for such a program: (1) identifying the organization’s personnel needs, (2)
developing a mission statement, and (3) establishing an organizational philosophy. If the
conference participants determine that particular skills must be developed to meet future
needs, that employee devel- opment is part of the organization’s mission, and that the
organizational philosophy supports mentoring, then proceeding with a mentoring
program is appropriate.
Identifying the Organization’s Personnel Needs
In assessing whether the organization really needs a mentoring program, first the
conference participants must take a good look at the organization’s personnel needs in
the future and must determine the methods that the organization will use to meet these
needs. This form of personnel or succession planning is dependent on defining the
organization’s future environment and identifying the skills that will be needed most in
that environment. Both the external and the internal environments should be defined.
Figure 1 offers a sample analysis of one organization’s external and internal
environmental trends. Four types of skills should be considered as necessary resources
in connection with what is or will be happening in both environments:
1. Problem-solving skills. These skills are designed to help the organization raise
questions about its strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of identifying and analyzing
strengths and weaknesses is to determine and interpret present directions as well as
future directions that may be possible with a more organized and deliberate plan. These
skills are generally used after the problem or need has been thoroughly defined.
2. Adaptive skills. Unlike routine problem-solving skills, which are used to resolve
only immediate organizational issues, adaptive skills incorporate new ideas from outside
the firm.
3. Coordinative skills. These skills are brought to bear in improving the
administrative system to keep up with new technologies and with changes of staff.
4. Productive skills. Productive skills focus on the regular, ordinary requirements
for the survival and stability of the organization. They are generally used to help the
organization to produce its products and/or to provide its services.
Different and often-conflicting needs and values are inherent in each of these skill
areas. In a typical manufacturing organization, for example, these differences may
manifest themselves in interdepartmental “warfare”: The production department, which
depends on productive skills, may fail to understand and appreciate the constant
modification of products and plans that characterizes the research and development
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 6, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer ❚❘ 283